Apparatus for stopping vehicles.



, 1.1, KYEENAN.

APPARATUS FOR STOPPING VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED F-EB. 24. 1914- 1,2oa,oo6.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' Patented Oct. 31,1916.

leo

JOHN J. KEENAN, OF NEWYORK, N.

Y., ASSIGNOR TO MARGARET A. KEENAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR STOPPING VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patenten-oet. si, i916..

Application led February 24, 1914. Serial No. 820,645.

To all whom it 'may concern Be it known that l, JOHN J. KEENAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and usev ful Improvement in Appa'atus for Stop-- ping Vehicles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to a class of devices adapted toV beused on publie highways. n

My invention has for its obyect primarily to provide. an apparatus designed to be employed for stopping automobiles. or like vehiclesv especially when the vehicle con- .tinues to travel after an accident has occurred, or when the vehicle is traveling faster than; a giyen speed, and wherein are provideda series of posts, or guard members which are normally disposed in a trough arranged aeross a highway, and these guard members are pivotally connected to a commonbar adapted to be movably adjusted for serving` as means whereby the guard inem-j bers may be simultaneously swung to extend vertically in spaced relation above the surface'of the highway in emergency, or the guard members may be lowered to the same plane with the surface of the highway when the apparatus is not in use.

lVith these and other objects in view, the invention wil-li. be hereinafter moie particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, and will then be pointed out 1n the claims at the end of the description.

In the drawings, Figure l is a fragmentary plan view lof a number ot highways showing the manner oi employing in conjunction therewith my in'iproved apparatus for stopping vehicles. lfig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing the apparatus when `adjusted for stopping a vehicle. Fig. 3 is an' enlarged fragmentary view of the apparatus, part ot which isshow n in section and part in detail. Fig. is an cnlargcd perspective view of one oi: the guard members of the .ipparatus, and Fig. 5 is a view taken on the line VNV of Fig. f5, part of which is broken away.

The apparatus for stopping vehicles has two spaced suppmting plates l0 and 1l, onel of which is disposedagainst each of the side walls ota. trough, as l', provided across a highway', as l-, and iny apparatus is ot a llorm whereby a number may be cn'i; loyed at l. provide a form of mechanism, as

suitable )arts of a single highwa 1 as shown in Fig. l, and two oi the apparatus adapted' to be sin'iultaneously operated from a single station 14- niay be arranged for use at intersecting highways, as shown lin F ig. 2. The supporting plates 10 and ll are alike in formation, and these plates have their upper edges formed .so that corresponding parts thereof are disposed on similar inclines, as

at. 15. The junctures of these inclines thereby provide depending shoulders 16 which serve as stops, and transversely through each of the shoulders is an opening. In each pair of the openings of the supporting plates l0 and 11 is helda transverse rod 1S, and on each of these rods is pivotally held a post, or guard member 19 made preferably of heavy metal so as to be adapted to withstand the weight of vehicles when traveling thereover. `The posts 19 are similarly formed, and each post is substantially L-shaped to provide two angularly disposed arms 20` and 2l. The arms 20 of the posts are approximately the same lengths as the porting plates l0 and 1l, and extending from the underside of the arm 20 of each post may be two flanges 22 and 23 each having its free edge tapered to conform with the pitch of the inclined parts of the supporting plates so that when thel posts l!) are swung downwardly iii the trough ot' the highway the top surtace'of the plates will be on'the same plane with the surface oi the highway for vehicles to pass thereover. The free end portion ot' the arm 21 ot' each ot the posts 19 is enlarged, at 24, to provide a weight which is considerably heavier than the arin 2O of the post, and these weights -serve to normally swing the posts in directions downwardly in the trough of the highway so that the posts may be raidily lowered therein. All of the weights 2lofthe post-s are pivoted, at 25, to a conunoii hai' 2G adaptedto be inovalily adjusted for serving as n ieans whereby the posts or guard menibcrs may be sin'iultancously swung to extend vertically in spaced relation above the sur-- 'face of the highway in emergency, or the posts nia'y be lowered iii the the apparatus is'iiot in use.

For the purpose of moving the bar 26 to operate the posts, or guard members 1S), The mechanism 27 has a rod 28 having one of trough when ico is pivoted to a cran vof the its ends pivotally held to the pgn 25 to paratns will thereby be operated in unison which the opposed endof the ar 26 is. for stopping vehicles'when traveling from pivoted, and the opposite end of said rod 29. The crank 29 is held upon one end of a stud 30 journaled in a bracket 31, and .on the other end of the stud is a bevel gear 32 which is in mesh with a bevel gear 33 held upon a vcrtically disposed shaft 34.v The shaft 34 is journaledin bearings provided in the station 14 which consists of a hollow base 3G and a hollow ost 37 extending thereabove. The station o' each apparatus is positioned alongside of the hi hway in a manner whereby the hollow ase thereof communicates with the trough of the highway. In order to permit the mechanism to be readily operated, the .vertical shaft 34 is of a length to` extend -some distance u wardly in they hollow post 37 of the station, and on the upper end of this shaft is a lever 38 which is movably disposed through a transverse slot 39 provided in the hollow post. By throwing the lever in one direction in the slot 3 9 the shaft 34 will be revolved for rotatingthe bevel gears '33 and 32 which in turn will impart rotation to the crank 29. The`rod 28 will thereby be directed for adjustably movin the bar 26`to swing the posts, or guard mem rs 19 so that the arms 20 thereof will be disposed -at spaced intervals above the surface of the highway to prevent a vehicle from passing, or by throwing the lever in an opposite direction in the s ot 39 the mechanism 27 will be reversely operated whereby the posts 19 will be lowered to their normal positions in' the trough of the highway. The weights 24 of the arms 21 s obviously serve to enable the mechanism to be easily swung on their pivots, and these weights also tend to force the arms 21 of the posts in contact with the stops 16 of the supporting plates 10 and 11 to' arms 20 when the posts are lowered so that imit the downward movement of the the arms 20 are level with the highway.

When two' ofthe ap iaratus are employed at the intersection o two highways,` as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,' and to permit both apparatus to be operated in unison from a single station, in the hollow base 36 may be provided a. second crank 40, Figs. 3 and 5,

and this crank is held upon one end of a stud 41 journaled in a. bracket 42. 0n the other end of the stud 41 is a bevel gear 43 in mesh with the bevel gear 33 o f the vertical shaft 234, and to this crank is pivoted one end of a rod 44 having its other end pivoted to the common bar 26 of the posts, or guard member of the second a paratus. In this manner when the mechanism 27 is operated, as above described` the rotation of the shaft 34 and the bevel gear 33 will be imparted to the bevel gear 43 and to the crank 4Q for moving, the rod 44. Both aplatei'al directions toward oiic point.

In the foregoing description, I have embodied the preferred form of myinvention, but I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself thereto, as I am aware lthat modifications may be made therein without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention; therefore I reserve to myself the i'i ht to make such changes as fairly fall within the Y sco'pe of the appended claims. i

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentx- 1. In an apparatus for stopping vehicl the combination with a trough arrang across a highway of a plurality of lates adapted'to entirely cover said troug and lie flush with the surface of the highway,

said plates being provided with an extension integral therewith and arranged at an angle thereto, together with means attached to said extensions for raising said plates to vertical position over said highway to form an obstruction. therein.

2. In an apparatus for stopping vehicles the "combination with a trough across a highway, ofv a plurality of lates adapted to entirely cover said troug and lie flush with the surface of the highway, said plates being provided with an extension integral therewith and arranged at an angle thereto and being pivoted to said trough. together with means connected to said extensions for swinging said plates into vertical position over said highway to form an obstruction therein.

3. In an apparatus for stopping vehicles, the combination with a trough arranged across a highway, of a plurality-of plates arranged arranged end to end, and adapted to en' tirely cover said trough and lie flush with the surface of the highway, extensions in-` tegral with said plates .an arranged at an angle thereto, a bar pivotally connected to said extensions. and means attached to said bar for swinging the same endwise and thereby moving said plates into vertical 'position over said highway.

same ondwise'and thereby raising said -irst mentioned arms to Vertical posltlon over said highway. A

This specification signed and witnessed this twenty-first day of February, A. D. 1.5A

JOHN J. KEENAN.

Witnesses Ron'r. B. ABoTi, M. DERMODY. 

